Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood had a historic victory in girls lacrosse Wednesday, advancing to the final round of the Division 2 state tournament for the first time.

The Cranes earned the right to play for the championship with a 24-6 win over Farmington Hills Mercy in a semifinal game at Okemos High School.

"We came into this game knowing we could make a little history today," coach Greg Courter said. "The girls have been focused on that for the last few weeks. They're really excited about having the opportunity to play on Saturday."

The Cranes (18-3) will have a big challenge against a tournament-tested foe when they play three-time defending state champion East Grand Rapids in the 2 p.m. final at Rockford.

But the same goes for the Pioneers as they try to slow down a high-powered CK offense that has scored 48 goals in its last two games, averaging seven more than its 17.2 overall average.

"We played well today," Courter said. "I thought we moved the ball well in transition, and a lot of kids stepped up and scored today. We had balanced scoring, and a lot of the goals were assisted, which I like."

Ten players scored for the Cranes, who led 14-3 at halftime. Isabelle Scane, Grace Giampetroni and Ari Vespa scored four goals apiece. Scane also had five assists and Giampetroni two.

Cranbrook Kingswood's dominance and continuous movement on offense, getting mutliple players involved in it, didn't just happen. The Cranes have worked hard at it.

"I spent the first part of the season trying to build up their creative thinking on the field," Courter said. "We really didn't incorporate plays until the second half of the season.

"If you spend too much time early working on plays, then kids just memorize their roles and they don't think creatively.

"A lot of what we do offensively comes out of what we did the first half of the season, trying to be creative, letting them see plays develop and people getting open."

The Marlins were in it early, trailing 5-3 with two goals by Chandler Pincheck and one by Lilly Blake. But the Cranes scored the last nine of the first half to take charge of the scoreboard.

Mercy's leading scorer, Brooke Ottaway, scored two goals early in the second half for a 16-5 score, but Cranbrook Kingswood made a purposeful effort to shut her down.

"We marked her for part of the game, because we knew she could hurt us," Courter said. "She's a very talented player. We knew we had to try to take her out of the game."

The Cranes scored the next six goals for a commanding lead and to win going away. Blake scored the final goal for the Marlins (10-6).

As part of its outstanding movement on offense, rotating players around the Mercy goal to get a quality shot, Cranbrook Kingswood was highly effective at finding the open player in front, cutting to the net.

"We practice that a lot," Courter said. "From the very first week of the season on, we practice transition. On the first day, I'll have the fastest kid on the team race a lacrosse ball.

"I have one kid throw a ball, and we see who wins that race. It's getting them to understand the ball is a lot faster than kids are. It's part of getting them to make fast-break transitions and move the ball quickly.

"And it's a lot more fun to play that way, too. You include more people. It's uptempo and it's fun to watch."

The Cranes also were good on defense and didn't allow the Marlins many good shots or even good looks at the net.

"Our slides were good today," Courter said. "We did a nice job of picking up dodgers in transition – the girls who were carrying the ball in – and stopping their easy shots. We did force a lot of low-angle shots, and Brigitte came up big."

The Marlins, who were in the semifinals for the first time in six years, knew they would have to keep the score close and try to make a run at the end. The Cranes were just too good, however.

"Cranbrook is an outstanding team," Mercy coach Lindsay Hoyt said. "We knew it would be difficult. They're a bigger team than us and very athletic.

"They have power in their shots and their passes, and that's why they're going on to the state final. They're just a very talented team, a very powerful team.

"We worked hard to get this point, and we're just happy to be here. It's such an honor to be in the semifinals, in the top four in the state. We fell short, but we tried to work hard and finish our game well."